On Saturday, October 8, 2005, at 8:50 a.m. Pakistan Standard Time, an earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale struck the northern areas of Pakistan and India. Its epicenter was 19 km northeast of Muzaffarabad, catastrophically affecting both Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province.

Death Toll

The earthquake couldn’t have struck at a worse time. It was during the religious month of Ramadan and many people were sleeping after their pre-dawn meal. They did not have time to escape their homes.

Saturday is a normal school day in the region and most children were in class when the quake occurred, causing many to be buried under collapsed school buildings.

Entire towns and village, both in the mountains and valleys, were completely wiped off the map in Northern Pakistan.

The official death toll figure issued by the Pakistan government on November 8, 2005 was 87,350 with a further 41,000 reported injuries…

Aftershocks

By mid-November, more than 1,200 aftershocks were recorded in the region. Some of these aftershocks hit at nearly the same force of the original tremor (close to 6.2 on the Richter Scale) and continued to transform the physical geography of the region even further.

Destruction

An estimated 3.3 million people were left homeless by the earthquake in Pakistan.

Most of the buildings in the affected region of Kashmir were not earthquake resilient: 84% of the housing infrastructure was damaged or completely destroyed in this area and more than 60% of these unreinforced solid concrete block masonry buildings were responsible for the majority of the deaths and injuries.

The total cost of damages in the region is estimated to be over $5 billion USD.

Aid

In total an estimated 3.5 million people have been directly affected by the earthquake disaster and are in need of immediate, as well as long-term recovery assistance. The pressing demand for winterized shelter, food and water continues, as does the need for the establishment of medical care and sanitation facilities.

Winter Weather Has Arrived…

With Northern Pakistan currently experiencing harsh winter conditions, snow and rain are impeding relief efforts. Refugee tents are flooding and collapsing, and field workers in the region have reported that many people are still without “one warm room” to use for the winter. The region is in desperate need of aid workers, which is why we want to help… Pakistan Volunteers has made a commitment to assist the people of Kashmir.